Tony Horton’s One on One: Butt and Belly
Tony Horton’s One on One Butt and Belly offers 45 minutes of alternating exercises between the buttocks and the abdominal muscle groups. Tony takes us through two rounds of ten exercises. The first round is super slow and the second round is a speed round. This routine does not require any accessories other than your water bottle, towel, and maybe a mat for the floor work.
Most of the exercises are isometric which means the muscle being worked is engaged throughout the whole movement. You should expect some muscle shaking and a little sweat! Just in case you are curious or would like to print off a exercise guide for this video, I listed the exercises below. Remember that isometric exercises require intense concentration to maintain control and good form.
- Side Hop Squat
- Iso Bike
- Iso Back Kicks
- Iso Torso Twists
- Leap Frog Squats
- Iso Crunch Frog
- Eight Card Pickup
- The Monster
- Warrior Run
- Super Scissors
Tony Horton’s One on One monthly workouts are designed to keep variety in your workout routines and keep P90X graduates pushing play. Tony’s crazy style will keep you motivated. If you haven’t worked out with Tony in any of his other programs, this is a good way to see what he is all about. You can order just one dvd or have UPS deliver a new one to your door every month. Are you up to the challenge?
ChaLEAN Extreme Push Circuit 1
Hello phase II! ChaLEAN Extreme has three phases: Burn, Push, and Lean. In the Burn phase, we used a weight that put our muscles in failure at 10-12 reps. In the Push phase, we increase the weight and decrease the reps to a failure range of 6-8.
Push Circuit 1 focuses on biceps, triceps, glutes, and hamstrings. Unlike the Burn phase, Push concentrates on one muscle group at a time rather than stepping through a compound exercise which engages the lower and upper body at the same time.
An example of this is the standard bicep curl. Bicep curls were also used in the Burn phase but they were joined with a variation of squat to work on the lower body at the same time. If you think this makes the Push phase easier, think again! My triceps and biceps were shaking and burning by the end of this routine.
Chalene continues with the breakdown reps we came to know in the Burn phase. This time, however, she adds more of them to the routine. Muscle fibers twitch, your mind gets really focused, and you accomplish more than you thought possible. Cool.
Tony Horton uses the 6-8 rep range in P90X. There are at least three key differences between the two training styles though. In P90X, Tony uses a superset series. He moves through a series of three muscles groups (biceps, triceps, shoulders), takes a short break and repeats the set. The reps are done in good form but at a faster rate.
Chalene puts your focus on one muscle group (i.e. biceps). The reps are super slow which keeps your muscle engaged and working for a longer period of time. Then, when your muscle seems exhausted, you take about a ten second break and somehow find the engery to do a breakdown set of three ultra slow reps.
I think both methods bring results. One of the things I love about Beachbody workouts is the variety of training techniques. It is important to have variety in your routines.
I have read over and over about getting bored after doing a certain workout program week after week. That makes sense. As much as I love pizza, if that is all I ate meal after meal…day after day…I wouldn’t like pizza so much anymore.
I recommend starting with a Beachbody workout that sparks an interest for you and will help you stay committed. Then, add in something like Tony Horton’s One on One or 10 Minute Trainer workouts which will add variety and keep pushing play. Please feel free to contact me if you need help choosing your first program or a supplemental program.
Keep pressing play!
Ten Minute Crusher Pack
Since I knew October’s One on One training session came with a jump rope, I was expecting the 10 Minute Crusher Pack to use a jump rope to do cardio intervals. I didn’t expect the workout inside. Tony Horton is a crazy trainer who will keep you entertained, motivated, and pushing forward.
The 10 Minute Crusher Pack is actually divided in three 10 minute segments. The first segment is called 20-12 Abs and appropriately works your abdominal muscles. Tony put together a series of ab exercises that alternate between hanging from a chin up bar and work on the floor.
The ab routine is a nice variation to through into your P90X Extreme Home Training workout plan if you get tired of Ab Ripper X or just need a change. It is more challenging than Ab Ripper 100 and Ab Ripper 200 which are both ab routines from Power 90. The 20-12 Abs is more comparable with Ab Ripper X but you will be using the chin up bar a lot to isolate and work those tough abdominal muscles.
The second workout session packs ten minutes full of extreme exercises for legs. It is called Legs of Gold. If you know Tony, then you know that regular squats and lunges will never do. He likes to “mix it up” with any and every variation he sees or can dream up.
If you are new to fitness or to Tony Horton, this leg workout will give you a challenge and probably remind you that you worked legs a day or two later. I cannot compare the intensity of Legs of Gold with the P90X Legs and Back exercise routine. The P90X version is butt burner in my book.
The downside of the P90X Legs and Back workout is the length. You don’t always have an hour to exercise or you might want to just work legs or add them to something besides your back routine. That’s where I think Legs of Gold belongs in my fitness routine. I never thought I would ever be happy with a ten minute leg routine. I guess if you know how, you can get an effective workout in ten minutes.
The last exercise segment is Shadow Boxing. This is a cardio segment that uses the familiar jab, cross, hook, uppercut, kick, block…. It’s like graduating from P90X Kenpo X or Chalene Johnson’s Turbo Jam and then, putting it all together in a fun, playful way.
So, what’s the big deal about a jump rope? The jump rope is used as a warm up and for cardio intervals between segments. Jumping rope is an excellent aerobic activity. I never was very good at jumping rope as a kid. Now, I have a reason to practice. I know I don’t have to be perfect. I just have to do my best. All I have to do is keep my body moving. I can even “jump rope” without using a rope.
Burning Fat, Blasting Abs, Turbo Jam’s Ab Jam Workout
My abs were still burning from working out with Tony Horton’s a Core Ball Sandwich the other day, but I decided to put in Chalene Johnson’s 20 minute Ab Jam workout from her Turbo Jam series anyway. Half of this routine does standing ab exercises. The other half is performed on the floor.
What I really like about Beachbody workouts is each trainer has their own style for working out abs. I used to be one of those people who would go to the gym and walk by anything that looked like it might involve abs. I didn’t like working my abdominal muscles because it involved pain.
My neck and lower back always seemed to hurt when I did ab exercises. I didn’t know I needed a trainer to keep me motivated, correct my form, and give me options for getting my mid-section in shape.
The standing portion of Ab Jam feels a lot like the other Turbo Jam workouts. It’s a little bit punching and kicking combined with music and Chalene’s style of fun. It’s true that you forget you’re working out when you’ve got a Turbo Jam DVD playing.
Here’s a hint for Ab Jam…warm up with the 20 Minute Cardio session. You’ll get your cardio, have a great warm up and keep the fat burning while working your abs with Ab Jam.
I will say that when we moved to the floor session, I knew for sure we were focusing on abs! Some of the moves Chalene uses are killer on the obliques and not once did I feel pain in my neck or lower back.
She reminds you to lead with your shoulder (not your elbow) when you’re doing crunches to keep the pressure off your neck. When doing standing crunches, she’ll tell you to lift your “hip” not your knee when doing side crunches.
Form is everything folks! I can appreciate a trainer who knows the common mistakes we all make and gently educates us on how to make each move more effective while reducing the risk of injury.
I like to combine the 20 minute Turbo Jam cardio with the Ab Jam workout which is also 20 minutes in length. I think I need to give my abs some recovery time now. I feel like I just did Ab Ripper X or Yoga Belly from P90X. I think I need to go to the kitchen and refuel now. Mommy!
Stability Ball Plank Crunch & Side Arm Crunch
I pushed play on Core Ball Sandwich (CBS) tonight. It’s a Tony Horton One on One workout that I wrote about recently. Tonight, my body felt two exercises in particular, so I thought I’d write about them.
This workout routine is only about 35 minutes long after the warm up. It consists of two rounds of ten exercises that focus on strengthening the core muscles. It’s a killer ab session that will leave your abdominal muscles screaming!
The exercises that really hit me tonight were the Stability Ball Plank Crunch and the Side Arm Crunch. The side arm crunch is performed from a side plank position. You pull your elbow and knee toward each other in a side crunch while maintaining a side plank. That took a lot of focus, stability, and determination for me tonight.
The Stability Ball Plank Crunch obviously involves a stability ball. You begin in a plank position with your feet on top of the ball. Then, you move your knees into your chest while rolling the ball forward. Tony puts the balls of his feet on the ball, but I had to modify this one.
My ball is larger than it should be for this exercise. Therefore, I put the top of my feet on the ball rather than using the balls of my feet. That helped ensure I didn’t take a header. It’s ok to modify any exercise as long as you’re still working the intended muscle groups without the danger of injury or over compensation from another muscle group.
Tony’s new One on One 10-Minute Crusher Pack should arrive in about a week. It sounds like it’s going to be some old school cardio. Beachbody is sending a free speed jump rope with the DVD. You can get this DVD, Core Ball Sandwich or any other DVD on this series either separately or as a monthly subscription.
These programs were designed to keep P90X Extreme Home Fitness graduates challenged. They’re not designed for beginners. I would highly recommend trying out one of them if you want to get feel for how this trainer motivates and pushes all of his students.
They say that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Are you ready? (Don’t forget that as a Club Member you’ll save 10% off the retail price and as a Team Beachbody Coach, you’ll enjoy a savings of 25% even on the more expensive P90X program.)
Fall Hike? Mix It Up for Results
My hip flexors are sore today. Yesterday, we took a five mile hike on a local trail. The trail was challenging. Not only was it five miles long, but it was rolling with hills and curves. Sometimes we were walking; sometimes we were jogging. This was an invigorating walk that challenged my aerobic, strength, and endurance capabilities.
I live in an area that has a lot of pollen, and I have allergies to pollen and to mold. That makes walking on a trail difficult for me most of the year. In the spring and summer, I have trouble breathing because of pollen. Late in the year when we’ve had a rainy season, the mold count on pine needles in wooded areas makes me wheeze and affects my endurance and intensity.
For a short period of time during the year, the trails are perfect. If I don’t get out and hike them when I can, I lose a beautiful opportunity to enjoy nature and mix up my routine. The ultimate key to keep your body burning fat and your muscles getting tighter is to mix up your workout routines. Don’t let you body get used to doing the same thing everytime you work out.
As for this morning? I think I need to do a little yoga to stretch out those hip flexors. Hmmmm. P90X Yoga X or Patience Hummingbird? What will you do today? Get out on a trail if the conditions are right for you. Keep it mixed up. Keep doing your best. Forget the rest.
P90X Yoga X – More Calm, More Storm
P90X Yoga X made it to my dvd player today. I hesitated before pushing play because I haven’t done this 92 minute power yoga workout in about two months. I looked forward to the workout, yet I dreaded some of the poses. I wondered if the workout would be as difficult this time around. I decided that I would commit to the first 45 minutes of the routine. I pushed play and set out to do my best.
Guess what? It’s still a difficult workout, but it’s better in the second round of P90X. I’m stronger now, and I know what’s coming. I used to shake a lot in upward dog and side plank. My core muscles are much stronger now. These yoga poses are no longer mastering me and kicking my butt.
On the other hand, the half moon sequence still causes a lot of shaking! At least I’m not stumbling, losing my balance, and falling to the floor in the half moon series any longer. So, the good news is I’m stronger and more flexible. The bad news is that to gain more calm….I’ve got to experience more storm.
I tell everyone that there’s nothing easy about the P90X Extrme Home Fitness program. You’ve got to really commit yourself and work all aspects of the program. You have to remain accountable to yourself and above all esle, be willing to fail and try again. That’s been my experience with P90X Yoga X. I commit to do my best. I struggle. I fall. I try again. I get stronger. I gain flexibility and balance. I master one move and still struggle with another. Calm. Storm.
I’m waiting on this month’s Tony Horton One on One to arrive. It’s his new yoga routine named “Patience Hummingbird”. It’s only about half the length of Yoga X. I know it will have it’s own challenges as Tony’s One on One program was designed to keep P90X graduates motivated with new extreme fitness workouts. I’ll write a review this week after I get a chance to experience the new calm and storm.
Core Ball Sandwich Flatter Abs!
I finished Tony Horton’s One on One Core Ball Sandwich feeling like I’d accomplished a great challenge yet missed the mark on athletic ability. My core muscles received a muscle twitching trembling workout, but I had to practice Tony’s mantra to “do your best and forget the rest.”
I struggled primarily with the pull ups. I’ve worked my way up to one chin up, and I’m quite proud of that. I don’t plan on ever being able to keep up with Tony on the pull ups. He’s a machine when it comes to pulling himself above that bar!
Core Ball Sandwich is a series of ten exercises that are done in two rounds. In keeping with this trainer’s style, three exercises are done in super set style and then, the next set of three, followed by another set of three. Ok, so that adds up to nine…he throws in an extra ball exercise.
A set of pull ups starts each super set of three exercises. The pull ups are not standard pull ups like you’d see in a beginner’s course. Remember, One on One workouts were designed for P90X graduates who wanted to continue using extreme fitness training routines. These pull ups are for extreme workouts. If you’re like me and can’t do them, you just do what you can.
After a set of pull ups, you’ll move on to a set of balance ball exercises. These are challenging because you have to use tiny little muscle to stabilize your body. For example, one of the balance ball exercises requires you to do push ups with your hands on the ball and your feet on a bench. I modified here by placing my feet on the floor. Modifying exercises allows you to build up strength and endurance over time while preventing injuries from overexertion or improper form.
The final set of exercises is performed with a basketball. I didn’t have a basketball, so I used a four pound medicine ball. I really liked using a smaller ball in this workout. I thought the added weight worked well to intensify the V-up crunches. It was also easier for my hand to palm during the push up exercises than a basketball would have been for me.
Core Ball Sandwich is an extreme fitness workout that brings both challenge and variety to any Beachbody program. It takes advantage of interval training to get your heart rate up which means your metabolism is charged. When your metabolism is burning so is fat! This workout brought plenty of sweat and as I write this, my abs are still on fire.
Power 90 Ab Ripper 100
Ab Ripper 100 is one of the ab routines in Tony Horton’s Power 90 Fat Burning System. I had heard of Ab Ripper 100 from P90X. In Ab Ripper X from P90X, Tony says that this isn’t Ab Ripper 100 or Ab Ripper 200, this is Ab Ripper 336. After finally doing Ab Ripper 100, that statement made more sense.
Ab Ripper X is 16 minutes of hard ab work. Each exercise has 25 reps except for the massive amount of Mason Twists done at the end. Oh, and let’s not forget the “yoga belly seven” ab work on the Yoga X video. That’s P90X. Let’s get back to Power 90 and Ab Ripper 100.
Ab Ripper 100 consists of 10 ab exercises. Each exercise has 10 reps for a total of “100″ reps. Most of the exercises were not excruciating because we only had 10 reps to get through. The hardest one for me was the full body crunch done right at the end. There’s always at least one ab exercise that’s difficult for me!
Can’t wait to try out Ab Ripper 200! Do I dare press play on Tony Horton’s One on One Core Ball Sandwhich? Oh, I will. How about you? Bring it, Tony!
Turbo Jam: Ab Jam
When I first looked at this dvd, I thought twenty minutes was an incredibly long time to be working on my abs. I’ve got to tell you that the time just flew by. I’m not sure what it is about Turbo Jam or Chalene Johnson, but each workout is fun. Fun means you’ll keep doing it. Fun means you get through the workout before you realize you’re exercising…just kidding.
Keeping with the trademark of Beachbody workouts, Ab Jam uses cardio interval training to keep your heart pumping. You’re going to sweat, burn calories, melt fat, and pump up your metabolism.
The first half of the workout is standing. If you’re used to working your abs with crunches, a ball, or ab machines, you’ll be surprised at how many different ways you can work your abdominal muscles standing up.
You may not be comfortable doing standing ab exercises. Give it a chance and work through it. It’s probably just new to you. Some of the standing ab exercises are similar to those in Debbie Sieber’s Slim in 6. I also noticed some similarities with Tony Horton’s P90X Extreme Home Fitness System.
The second half of the workout moves to ab exercises on the floor. I learned some new moves. I was expecting something in between Slim in 6 and P90X’s Ab Ripper X or Yoga Belly 7. My favorite floor exercise in Ab Jam involves sitting on the floor with your hands on the floor behind you. Your knees are bent…feet off the floor. You then lean back and touch your knees to the left until they hit the floor. Then, your bring them to the right until they hit the floor, etc. This works the lower abs really good!
I’ve got a few more ab routines to review for you, so you’ll have plenty of information on how to get yourself a tight, flat set of abs. Still coming up: Turbo Jam Booty Sculpt & Abs, Tony Horton’s One on One Core Ball Sandwhich, and Brett Hoebel’s new 90 day ab solution Rev Abs.
Rev Abs isn’t available, yet. This Beachbody workout won’t be released until the fall; however, I have a preview dvd. It’s the first dvd in program. Getting free preview dvds of upcoming releases is one of the benefits of being a Beachbody Coach. Speaking of previews, I have an extra Tony Horton One on One Cardio Intervals dvd.
Here’s all you have to do to get it. Click here to sign up for a free Beachbody account. When you sign up for your free account, Beachbody will let me know that you signed up from this website. I will then send you an email to make arrangements to get the dvd to you. If you’re not the first to sign up, don’t worry. I will personally make sure you get a dvd for free just for visiting my site and signing up for your free account. (Of course I won’t be able to extend this offer forever. You must act by August 31st, 2009.)
Do you know the benefits of getting your free Beachbody account? They’re amazing…
1. Access to the WOWY (workout with you) online supergym. Here, you’ll be able to schedule workouts and track your progress. You’ll also be able to connect with other people in the supergym with you and be eligible to win cash and prizes of up to $1000 per day.
2. You can compete for the $25,000 grand prize in the Million Dollar Body Game.
3. Your own personal coach (me) to help guide you to the support, tools, and motivation you need to reach your goals.
4. Workout buddies to help keep you motivated.
5. Access to the Beachbody message boards and cool down chat room.
6. Weekly Beachbody newsletters where you’ll learn about nutrition, exercise, and more.
Go ahead, sign up here! You’ve got nothing to lose except all those extra pounds.
